knotscott Posted August 17, 2014 Report Share Posted August 17, 2014 I believe the British term for what we call a planer is a "thicknesser". A US planer mills boards to a uniform thickness, and makes both faces parallel to each other.....whether flat or not, so it requires a flat reference face to make both sides flat and straight at a uniform thickness. What we call a jointer is the tool that truly flattens one face, then can be flipped up on edge to make an edge perfectly square to that reference face, which creates two known flat surfaces and a square edge to reference from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Kohl Posted August 17, 2014 Report Share Posted August 17, 2014 My first 2 purchases were delta contractor table saw and a dewalt 13 inch planer. I am presently increasing hand tools planes , chisels and finishing saws. my next power tool will be either a drill press or a band saw. I am really undecided on which is most important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Pritchard Posted August 17, 2014 Report Share Posted August 17, 2014 I got my jointer first before I got my planer, but that was more of an accident of history as I knew a sale was coming up for the planer, and a second hand jointer came up on my local classified which was in my price range. End result was that I got them around the same time because I didn't fancy messing around with a sled to for my planer to get boards flat and surfaces parallel. At the time I already had a little aluminium topped contractor style saw, which I hated mostly because the fence was difficult to get square and it was incredibly noisy partly for the aluminium top and partly for the direct drive. My more recent acquisition of a cast iron topped, belt driven Ridgid TS3650 is quieter, has a larger capacity cut and the fence is far easier to get square to the blade. Again, a second hand tool but well worth the money I paid for it. I'm not considering an upgrade to my jointer to get an 8" jointer. Partly because I want the wider capacity, and partly because the fence on the one I have is a complete b**** to get and keep square to the table top. Currently I'm surfacing boards and the edge jointing to take any bow out of the edge before running both sides through my table saw to square up the edges. Ultimately I think there's something to be said for buying the tools to suit the project you're working on. There's no point in buying a router if you know you're not going to do any work with it yet. I didn't get my bandsaw till a year ago, but I've been woodworking for over 2 years now. I mostly got it to do bandsaw boxes, but I'm now getting to the point where I'm seeing the limitations in the very cheap saw I got (hey - I paid $75 for it which is more than adequate for bandsaw boxes, but resawing more than 4" and it just bogs down). I think the biggest thing I've learnt so far about wood working is to spend more money on wood and do projects, than to spend on tools. Yes the tools are necessary to get the work done, but if you don't have any wood the tools will stand idle. You can buy S4S wood if you must (it's more expensive for sure), but you don't then NEED a jointer and planer. If you have a planer, you can buy S2S wood to get the work done. A jointer just means you can cut out the middle man between S4S and S2S. * S4S means flat and square on all 4 sides. S2S means flat on one side and one edge is flat and square to that one side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dewald Swanepoel Posted August 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2014 My first 2 purchases were delta contractor table saw and a dewalt 13 inch planer. I am presently increasing hand tools planes , chisels and finishing saws. my next power tool will be either a drill press or a band saw. I am really undecided on which is most important. How is a contractor table saw different from any other table saw? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Pritchard Posted August 17, 2014 Report Share Posted August 17, 2014 A jobsite contractor saw is usually smaller surface because they often have to be thrown on the back of a truck to take to a site. They often also have aluminium tops to make them lighter. They sacrifice top size and weight for size and weight. The weight becomes important when you're trying to limit vibration. Jobsite saw: Contractor Saw, sometimes referred to as a hybrid saw because it combines the features of the saw above with the larger more powerful cabinet saw: Cabinet saw. Better dust collection and more powerful motor and typically used by professional shops. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Kohl Posted August 18, 2014 Report Share Posted August 18, 2014 my shop is a 1 car garage so mobility was a consideration. the delta table saw has a cast top so heavier than other models. the planer came from fact I can buy kiln dried saw mill lumber 5 miles down the road. poplar 1$/bf Hard Maple 4$/BF so economics was a big consideration. If I have some cup I hand plane it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knotscott Posted August 18, 2014 Report Share Posted August 18, 2014 How is a contractor table saw different from any other table saw? The ABCs of Table Saws... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dewald Swanepoel Posted August 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2014 my shop is a 1 car garage so mobility was a consideration. the delta table saw has a cast top so heavier than other models. the planer came from fact I can buy kiln dried saw mill lumber 5 miles down the road. poplar 1$/bf Hard Maple 4$/BF so economics was a big consideration. If I have some cup I hand plane it out. Yup, my space is also rather limited. We have an outside room which is more or less the size of a single garage and the workbench I've just built already makes it look much smaller. The ABCs of Table Saws... Wow. That's some excellent info, thanks. I'll definitely refer back to that post again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dewald Swanepoel Posted August 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2014 Holy smokes! I'm starting to understand why people would go the hand tool route. I had no idea how expensive these various tools are. But what really gets my goat is how I Google around for prices on, say the DeWalt DW735, and find various outlets selling it at somewhere in the upper $500 range. But when I look for them here locally in South Africa, the cheapest price I can find is closer to the equivalent of $2500. Say what? Could the price really multiply five fold in the process of importing it to South Africa. If I could fit it inot my luggage it would be cheaper to buy a return flight ticket to the States, buy the thing there and bring it back with me. Aaaaarrrrggghhh!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted August 19, 2014 Report Share Posted August 19, 2014 I have some friends from NZ who come to the US every other year or so and shop for goods, load them into sea vans, and slow boat them back to NZ. They actually make a living doing this for people there. Their prices aren't as exaggerated as yours either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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